Drinking straw



R. A. LOMBARD DRINKING STRAW July 25, 1967 Filed June 5, 1966 INVEN TOR.Richard A. Lombard United States Patent O 3,332,622 DRINKING STRAWRichard A. Lombard, Panorama City, Calif. (9854 Vena Ave, Arleta, Calif.91331) Filed June 3, 1966, Ser. No. 555,180 Claims. (Cl. 23933) Thisinvention relates to drinking devices, and more particularly a drinkingstraw.

It is therefore the main purpose of this invention to provide a drinkingstraw which includes colorful rotatable pinwheels for making said strawmore attractive to the user.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drinking straw foryoungsters so that they may drink liquids from a container withoutspilling it.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drinking straw whichincludes tube portions for conveying liquids from a container to theyoungsters mouth in such a manner that the youngster may observe therotating, colorful discs while he is sipping milk, etc., through saidstraw.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a drinking strawwhich is inexpensive to manufacture, is of rugged construction, andprovides maximum utility to its user.

In the drawing,

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of FIGURE 1 shown partly broken away.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the lines 3-3of FIGURE 2.

According to this invention, a drinking straw is provided with anelongated tubular member 11, the upper end of said member being bent at12 and extending into another tubular member 13 which is positioned inparallel with the first tubular member 11.

As can be seen from FIGURE 2 still another tubular member 14 extends ina direction which is perpendicular to member 13. The end portion of thetube member 14 is generally used for insertion into the youngsters mouthfor the purpose of drinking the liquids through straw 10 when it isinserted into a container (not shown). Within the upper portion of thetubular members 11 and 13, provisions are made for the support blocks 15which are suitably secured within their respective members. Each supportblock 15 is provided with a semi circular cutout 16 which partiallyadmits a pinwheel arrangement 17 mounted on a pin 18 which, in turn, issecured within the walls of the tubular members 11 and/or 13. In thepreferred arrangement of this invention pin 18 outwardly extends fromthe wall portions of members 11 and 13 so that each side of pin 18 maybe secured to a colorful disc 19.

Looking now at the drawing, one will see that, in operation, the surgeof liquid within the tubular members 11 Patented .luly 25, 1967 and 13urge the pinwheel arrangement 17 to rotate in accordance with theintensity of the liquid flow.

It will also be noted that each disc 19 may be painted in differentcolors or carry a pictorial representation thereby providing colorfuldiversion to the user of the drinking straw 10.

What I now claim is:

1. A drinking straw comprising, in combination, a first tubular member,a second tubular member integrally secured to said first tubular member,said members positioned in parallel to each other, a third tubularmember perpendicularly extending from said second tubular member,supporting blocks secured within said first and second members fornarrowing the flow of liquid within said members, a laterally positionedpin rotatably secured within each of said first and said second members,the end portions of said pins arranged to outwardly extend from saidfirst and said second members, a pinwheel member mounted on the centerportion of each pin, a disc mounted on each end of each pin, eachpinwheel member adapted to rotate and simultaneously turn said discs inaccordance with the intensity of flow of liquid passing through saidtubular members.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said supporting blockis provided with a semi circular cutout for operably supporting aportion of said pinwheel member.

3. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said first tubularmember is secured to said second tubular member in such a manner that itforms a U-shape connecting means for providing smooth and uninterruptedflow of liquid from said first member to said second member.

4. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said pinwheel memberincludes a hub of a circular configuration, a plurality of spaced-apart,curved blade members being supported on said hub for providing therotating means to said discs.

5. The combination according to claim 1, wherein each of said discs isprovided with colorful coating, and each disc is provided with a coatingof different colors thereby providing means for attracting the attentionof the user of said drinking straw.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,181,657 5/1916 Fox 46-411,494,742 4/ 1924 Hills 239-3 3 2,063,803 12/ 193 6 Gildersleeve 2393 32,557,411 6/ 1951 -Butsch 23933 FOREIGN PATENTS 676,187 7/ 195 2 GreatBritain.

H. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

M. MAR, Assistant Examiner.

1. A DRINKING STRAW COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A FIRST TUBULAR MEMBER,A SECOND TUBULAR MEMBER INTEGRALLY SECURED TO SAID FIRST TUBULAR MEMBER,SAID MEMBERS POSITIONED IN PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, A THIRD TUBULARMEMBER PERPENDICULARLY EXTENDING FROM SAID SECOND TUBULAR MEMBER,SUPPORTING BLOCKS SECURED WITHIN SAID FIRST AND SECOND MEMBERS FORNARROWING THE FLOW OF LIQUID WITHIN SAID MEMBERS, A LATERALLY POSITIONEDPIN ROTATABLY SECURED WITHIN EACH OF SAID FIRST AND SAID SECOND MEMBERS,THE END PORTIONS OF SAID PINS ARRANGED TO OUTWARDLY EXTEND FROM SAIDFIRST AND SAID SECOND MEMBERS, A PINWHEEL MEMBER MOUNTED ON THE CENTERPORTION OF EACH PIN, A DISC MOUNTED ON EACH END OF EACH PIN, EACHPINWHEEL MEMBER ADAPTED TO ROTATE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY TURN SAID DISCS INACCORDANCE WITH THE INTENSITY OF FLOW OF LIQUID PASSING THROUGH SAIDTUBULAR MEMBERS.